Page 26 - Caxtons KPMR 2021

Locate in Kent Commentary
Inward Investment
About Locate in Kent
As Kent’s inward investment agency, our aim is to encourage and support more businesses to set up and expand in Kent. We do this by providing information to help businesses and investors find the right locations, and connecting the right people with each other. We’ve already helped thousands
of companies realise their ambitions in Kent, so you can be assured of our support before, during and after you locate in the county. Rely on us to:
• Advise with property searches and development plans.
• Introduce you to the professionals that will get your
operations up and running quickly.
• Connect you to the academic pool of cutting-edge
innovation and knowledge.
• Help you identify local partners and suppliers.
• Connect you to the local and global business networks.
• Advise on funding for your project.
Looking to the future Locate in Kent has identified key opportunities for the region that will attract significant investment and create new jobs.
Investment performance
Locate in Kent successfully helped 92 companies last year (August 2020 – July 2021) to set up, move or expand in Kent and Medway, projected to create 1,935 new jobs over the next three years and retain 2,037 jobs. At the end of July 2021, Locate in Kent had a pipeline of 235 investment projects for companies looking to start up, expand or relocate in Kent and Medway, with 35% of them being overseas companies.
Notable Investments
Many investments in Kent and Medway this year have reflected the region’s prime choice for logistics for nearly every industry.
The £205m Amazon facility at Dartford at 215,000m2 (2.3m ft2) reached practical completion this summer, just as construction began on the global online retailer's third facility in Ashford; thus catapulting Amazon as one of the region's largest employers with 2,000 staff.
Two further schemes achieving practical completion at M25 Junction 1 were Bericote’s Powerhouse 450 taken by Ikea and Goodman’s big sheds at Commercial Park, Crossways.
Megger, the Dover based developer, manufacturer and distributor of electrical testing equipment completed its multi-million-pound investment in extending its manufacturing and head office facility.
Glencore, Cemex and Seacon invested in their facilities in Northfleet supporting the delivery of the Thames Vision, the development framework for more freight using the river instead of roads.
Cemex invested £30m in a state-of-the-art sea-going, suction hopper dredger in addition to their £4m investment in a new dry discharge system the year before. Seacon are investing in a programme of improvements including a jetty, new offices and warehouse buildings and acquisition of land next to Seacon’s original site. By removing old buildings, the company has created additional trailer space essential for its logistics contracts.
Three new hotels came on stream in 2021. Hampton
by Hilton hotels in Canterbury and Ashford and a Travelodge in Sandwich, just in time for the 149th Open Golf Championship, creating new jobs and much needed capacity for the visitor economy in the region’s most visited areas.
Major sites ready for occupancy in 2022/23
Kingstanding, Tunbridge Wells
Plans to transform an unused 12ha (30acre) brownfield
site into a thriving business park received consent in the summer and was put on the market by the promoters U+I shortly afterwards. The scheme addresses a shortfall of Grade A office and industrial space provision in the west
of the region and is a much-needed catalyst for business growth. Well-connected and accessible by car, bus and train,
the site has direct access to the newly improved A21 and is a short journey to the M25 providing a prime commercial development opportunity.
Panattoni Park, Aylesford
The 36.4ha (90acre) brownfield site has been vacant since 2015 when Aylesford Newsprint closed, ending a 90-year history of papermaking on the River Medway. Panattoni
is the largest developer of logistics facilities in Europe.
The redevelopment will give a new lease of life to this redundant brownfield site and create 3,000 jobs for the
local area. The scheme is seven industrial buildings offering 177,000m2 (1.9m ft2) of new commercial floorspace with units to support the growth of local companies. When fully operational, the site will deliver more than £140m per annum of economic value to the Borough of Tonbridge & Malling and Kent as a whole, by attracting some of the world’s leading companies to the site. Construction began in 2021, with first occupation expected spring 2022 and completion by 2024.
Innovation Park, Medway
This is a new opportunity for high-value technology, engineering, manufacturing and knowledge-intensive businesses looking to grow in the South East. It will support the development of 101,000 m2 (1.09m ft2) of commercial space to provide indoor and outdoor informal meeting space and networking hubs that create an innovative community. Innovation Park Medway has excellent connectivity, strategically positioned with motorway access. The Park is one mile from the M2, three miles from the M20 and close to the High Speed One network.
Medway One
The proposed regeneration and redevelopment of the former Kingsnorth power station site to create a modern new employment space on the Hoo Peninsula. Leading international energy company Uniper owns the site and is bringing forward redevelopment plans. With 330,000m2 (3.5m ft2) of employment space that could create around 2,000 to 2,500 permanent, full-time equivalent jobs
once fully occupied. The scheme will offer a mixture of commercial, manufacturing and industrial uses, storage and distribution including data centre and energy uses.
24 Kent Property Market Report 2021